Announcing Font Award special prize winners! This award is for the design that introduces the best font that we purchase and add to the Minted Font List. We’re always looking to the community to help us surface fresh new fonts to add to our Minted Font List. If you have a vision for an amazing design that uses a font that is not listed in our font library, feel free to use it in your submission. You can read more about Minted fonts here. A huge congrats to all the winners!

Although Minted artist Shirley Lin Schneider was always drawn to the world of art and design, she took a bit of an exploratory detour to study one of her other interests—marine biology—as an undergraduate at UCLA. After graduating in 1999, she took a year off to apply for graduate school. During that year, she took evening classes in graphic design, and the rest is creative history. After getting her degree in design, one thing led to the next, and Shirley built a career designing things you’ve likely seen on TV.

From 2004–2010, Shirley worked in the entertainment industry as an art director and designer for various broadcast networks and design studios, creating style frames for networks ranging from Sundance to AMC. Fast-forwarding to now, Shirley’s current path combines her experience in science with motion graphics and parenting: She’s a self-employed designer for Minted and beyond. Here, the Manhattan Beach, California, artist talks about how she made it happen.

Minted: Why did you originally major in marine biology?Shirley Lin Schneider: I’ve always loved the biological sciences, especially marine biology, since I was young. It made sense for me to major in a scientific field, and I had amazing opportunities studying in Hawaii and Tahiti (where I met my husband), scuba diving, camping, research boat trips, etc. I believe these experiences have definitely shaped me as a designer. While I enjoyed studying biology and had planned to go to graduate school for marine biology, there was always a part of me drawn to the arts and design. Venturing out beyond the sciences and into the arts was daunting, because I had never been encouraged to pursue design.

After getting your undergrad degree in biology, where did you learn about graphic design?I studied graphic design at Art Center College of Design. Prior to Art Center, my initial graphic design courses were through UCSB’s Extension Program.I worked as a production designer in the Education Abroad Program at University of California Santa Barbara, designing travel brochures for college students wanting to study abroad. I decided I wanted to pursue design formally and included an application to an art school. I ended up being accepted to Art Center and majored in graphic design with an emphasis on motion graphics design. I chose to focus on motion graphics because I had always loved sequential design—books, magazines, etc. The art of film titles really spoke to me because of the integration of various mediums—film, typography, illustration, animation, photography and sound—all into one piece.

You were drawn to design from an early age; how have your interests changed?In high school and college, I was really into punk/ska music and the DIY scene. I loved album covers and self-published zines. The whole DIY mentality was very inspiring and motivating. Once I started taking evening design classes as a hobby, I saw the realm of what was possible in design. I’m sure I thought of how cool it would be to design album covers for a living. The funny thing is that my interests shifted over the course of being at art school, and I never pursued that avenue of work once I graduated.

What was your first job out of art school?My first job was a Jr. Designer at G4, a video game network. I also freelanced for VH1. Through various design studios in Los Angeles, I have worked on projects for Bravo, AMC, FX, TLC, NBC, E!, ABC, CMT, etc. I really enjoyed working on on-air projects like opening show titles and promos for TV networks. I also liked designing for network branding projects, commercials, and film titles/trailers. I made the difficult decision to take some time off after having my first born because the long hours were not conducive to family life.

Above: Shirley (on the right) with her coworker-producer while working on a shoot for a promo for TLC’s summer lineup. “We were responsible for directing and designing all on-air assets related to the promo as well as the graphics that wrapped around the ice cream truck,” Shirley explains. “The truck drove around that summer promoting TLC shows and gave away free ice cream.”

Shirley Lin Schneider designed these storyboard for Always Sunny in Philadelphia (above) and the Sundance Channel (below.)

For their rustic North Carolina nuptials, fashion blogger Laura Leigh Bain and her marketing exec beau Joshua Elliott chose a floral-patterned invitation (“Classic Floral” by Alethea and Ruth) to send to wedding guests. Following an alfresco ceremony, the celebration moved indoors for dinner, dancing, and additional merriment (complete with a s’mores station!).

How did you and Joshua meet?We met in our marketing classes in college. My roommate actually introduced us and we worked on a group project together.

Tell us about the proposal!
Joshua planned an incredible day from start to finish, taking me to different places where we had very monumental dates. It ended with the proposal in a sweet park near his home that we frequent often, followed by a surprise dinner with all of our family. All of the details can be found on my blog Louella Reese.

How did you find your wedding venue?
I spent hours searching online for rustic venues in the Charlotte area. After a lot of research, we went through my list of venues and chose four we wanted to visit. The Arbors Events was the last one on our list and we knew the search was over the second we pulled in.

Click through for more from Laura and Joshua’s wedding…

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Got any St. Patrick’s Day plans? These printable stickers are an easy way to add some flair to your St. Paddy’s day festivities—stick them on treat bags or T-shirts (if you’re not keen on green, these are a great way to avoid getting pinched!), you really can’t go wrong. So let’s make some!

Click through for the download!

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This year, we engaged a broader audience to partake in our Guest Judge selection process for our Wedding Bells are Ringing: 2016 Wedding Invitation Challenge. We partnered with Style Me Pretty, a style savvy wedding blog, and asked its readers to vote on their favorite designs. Style Me Pretty brings chic, stylish weddings to the masses, featuring only the best in real weddings, fashion trends, color palettes, inspiration and so much more.

Readers from across the country weighed in, Style Me Pretty tallied the votes, and the design that ultimately won wasVines of Green by Susan Moyal! Style Me Pretty’s readers felt that this design was on-trend with Greenery, Pantone’s 2017 color of the year. Congratulations, Susan!

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“Freshness of aspect, design, or style” is one of the ways Merriam Webster defines “originality.”

In late 2010, I received a Minted holiday card designed by Kelli Hall, and was so impressed with the originality of the design and the quality of the paper and printing, that I entered my first Minted Design Challenge a couple months later. Designers and design connoisseurs alike are drawn to “the freshest designs on paper” at Minted, which are created by its community of independent artists around the world.

The great thing about originality is that each of us has it—we all possess a different combination of educational, professional, and life experiences that lend a fresh aspect to the creation or choosing of a design or art piece. Because my degree and experience is in civil engineering—rather than in a traditional art- or design-related field—I tend to avoid complex illustration and, instead, boil a design idea down to its simplest execution, which has resulted in a minimal design style.

If each of us is true to ourselves and our own unique talents, the diversity of the Minted community is what makes Minted and its designs special. Here are six tips offering sources of inspiration to help designers bring their own style and originality to Minted Design challenges.

1. Make lists and brainstorm words and ideas related to the category in which you are working.

Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko offers wonderfully creative brainstorming techniques. One chapter is dedicated to SCAMPER, a checklist of nine idea-generating techniques (“M” and “R” each represent two techniques). I used “C”—“combine with something else”—when I created my “Ripped” digital holiday party invitation, which combines a cocktail party with a gift exchange, resulting in the “ripped” double entendre.

When we asked Minted artist Susan Asbill to describe a typical day in the life, she explained that as a working mother with two small children, the real constant in her life is chaos. “As a type A personality, this has been hard for me to accept, but I’ve found that no amount of planning will keep things from going awry,” the Dallas designer says. “For now I’m just settling into the chaos with these two little humans and soaking up all the mess and magic while it lasts.”

That perfect combination of life’s beautiful mess and magic shows in her Minted work, a bold, colorful collection of designs that celebrates life’s major moments. After asking Susan about her goals, how’s she’s developed her career, and what she does for fun, we’ve learned that she’s a hard-working Texan with a heartwarming sense of humor, and she’s committed to the Minted artist community.

Minted: Did you study art or design formally in school?Susan Asbill: I’ve had my heart set on an art-related career as far back as I can remember. As a child I drifted in and out of other activities, but art was my constant. In high school, I was taking so many art classes that I was short on regular credits needed for graduation—oops. I had to make these up in summer school and correspondence classes. I got my bachelor of fine arts in design from the University of Texas at Austin. I initially spent two years in studio art before moving into their design program. It was a difficult transition at first. I was used to the looser world of fine art, and it took me a while to get my footing. I had wonderful teachers who kept me challenged—and sometimes overwhelmed—throughout the program. I’m grateful for that push today. They also kept the class size small, and our group really bonded through the years. We stay in touch to this day. The bonds I’ve made in the Minted community remind me of those early designer friendships.

What was your first design-related job?My first design job was as an art director at a small agency in Dallas. They had a lot of home goods clients: surfacing and tile companies, gourmet ranges, roofing, etc. Since then I’ve worked 10 different jobs, both at agencies and also as an in-house designer. Working with such a wide variety of clients has been interesting, and I’ve been able to bounce between different brand styles, everything from Dom Pérignon to the WWE. It’s been a wild ride.

Do you think 10 jobs is a lot, or not necessarily?Ten jobs may sound like a lot, but it’s common in marketing and advertising. There is always employee turnover when agencies win and lose accounts. I’ve also moved around to learn new skills, like switching to an interactive agency at one point to learn web design. My most recent job change was to focus more on my family.

How many hours per week do you usually work? And what does “work” mean for you?Currently I work three days a week in TGI Fridays’ corporate office, primarily designing their menus. The other two days I work at home on freelance clients, Minted, volunteer work, and of course the toughest and most rewarding gig of all, being a mother.

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Gerrie Magnani’s life sounds like a dream. Having grown up in Indonesia, she now lives in Ravenna, a beautiful historical town in Italy, and strives to work no more than 20 to 30 hours a week as a freelance graphic designer. Going by the moniker Chocomocacino, Gerrie lives and loves creativity, food, and travel. She found her design footing as a teen, and after studying graphic design in San Francisco, took a hiatus to become a yogi in Bali. While on hiatus, she met her husband, an Italian bodybuilder, who took her back to his hometown.

Much as her life story so far is a winding journey, Gerrie views her design and art as a constant evolution. You can’t quite pinpoint her signature style in a few words, and that’s what she’s going for—for the moment. “I like things that either have elegance, uniqueness, modernity, and adorable/cutesy quality to it, so that’s where I’m directing my designs, too,” she says. “I haven’t found the right combination or balance between all of these. Maybe it’s because my work is so different.”

Minted: Why did you move to Bali after college?Gerrie Magnani: I lived in Ubud for almost two years, to pursue my yoga life, both teaching and studying. I got a scholarship and studied my yoga teaching right before moving to Ubud, also in Bali (Canggu) with Australian Yoga school. I taught yoga mostly privately in villas and hotels for guests who came to Bali, and some retreats. I also attended yoga-related workshops like astrology and meditation. My husband was my neighbor in Ubud; he managed an online rental accommodation. As a bodybuilder, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, he’s completely the opposite of a yogi.

Before living in Bali, you attended Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and majored in graphic design.What was your first design job after graduating college?I went back to Jakarta after school, and my first job for almost 10 years was as a wedding invitation designer—very much my dream job. I’ve always had a passion for paper and stationery, and I liked going to card stores to look at the illustration, lettering, and how cards are printed. Creating beautiful cards was really not a job for me; I had so much fun that it felt more like a hobby. I learned so much about printing processes—from laser cut to embossing, foil stamping, creating boxed invitations, and even printing with velvet texture. Dream world!

Announcing the Special Prize winners of The Future is Bright Graduation Challenge! We were floored by the quality and breadth of designs submitted to this challenge. The graduation business is one of our fastest growing stationery categories, and 2017 graduates will be thrilled with the new assortment this year!

For the most design-forward, innovative graduation announcement or invitation that you would only find at Minted.Photo Booth by Stacey Meacham

We’re excited to announce the Special Prize winners of our Wedding Bells are Ringing: 2016 Wedding Invitation Challenge! This was our largest and most competitive Wedding Challenge of the year with over 2,800 submissions. We were absolutely delighted by your beautiful invitation designs; we know that engaged couples and wedding guests will be too. Congratulations to the winners!